Hopelessly Lost

Today as we were on our way to the movies, I took a side road to bypass some road construction.   I thought that since I knew the road it would be a time saver.  As I turned onto the road that would bring me back on to the road that I had been on, I spotted a huge sign standing boldly, proudly in the middle of the road that said, “Road closed, Bridge out.”  Wonderful!  Now what?  I could turn around, go back, and go through the roadwork or I could stay on the road I was on and try to find another connecting road.   I thought that I could probably find another road since I am usually good in this area.  At this point, if I had been smart, I would have turned on my GPS, just in case I needed it.  I wasn’t smart.  We went on. It wasn’t long before we came to a road that seemed to go in the direction I was hoping for so we turned on the road.  The farther we went, the more concerned I became nothing looked familiar.  Duh, I had never been on the road, what did I think was going to happen?  I kept on driving in hope that surely I would come to something recognizable.  A short time later, the road ended and I had to turn right or left.  I do have some common sense so I pulled into the parking lot for a store that was out of business.  I turned on the GPS and my phone navigation ( I know, they have them right on the phones now, who knew).  I told it where we wanted to go, and within seconds, It showed me where I was and where I needed to go to get back on track.  As I looked at the navigator on my phone, I was amazed at how far off track I had gotten.  I was miles away from where I wanted to be.  I wonder in our spiritual life how often we head in one direction thinking we are ok because we know where we are going only to find out when we consult a map, the navigator that we are way off course.  It’s easy in the physical realm to realize when we may be off course, but it’s harder in the spiritual realm.  Maybe that why it’s critical to be in communion with our heavenly father so he can tell us when we are straying from the truth.  If I had not stopped to check the maps I might have ended up hopelessly lost because I wanted to turn in the other direction.  Similarly, in our spiritual if we depend only on our own understanding, we may end up hopelessly lost and way off course.  Praise God!  We can never get so hopelessly lost that we cannot get back on the right road.  The other comforting thing is that we have access to the map anytime we want.  All we really need to do is call on him and he has promised to answer us.  He will show us how to get back on the way of truth and follow him.  If you feel lost, helpless and alone, don't despair, call on your navigator and let him show you how to get back where you need to be.  He is as close as a whispered prayer.